In the present study, within and among breed genetic variability in seven native Turkish sheep breeds (Akkaraman, Dagli&ccedil / , G&ouml / k&ccedil / eada, ivesi, Karayaka, Kivircik and Morkaraman) were analyzed based on 20 microsatellite loci. For the analysis, various statistical methods such as Neighbor-Net, Factorial Correspondence Analysis (FCA) and Structure were used. High level of genetic variability within the Turkish breeds was observed. Gene pools of the breeds were visualized and found that they are highly overlapping with each other. As one of the reasons of this overlap, genetic exchange between the breeds was suggested. Dagli&ccedil / , claimed to be the ancestors of first domestic sheep in Anatolia, seemed to be the most admixed one. Yet Dagli&ccedil / , despite being the most introgressed one, still might be exhibiting its uniqueness. Observations implied that conservation practices concerning Dagli&ccedil / must be urgently revised. Results of the present study do not support previous observations about the genetic differentiation patterns of the breeds within Anatolia. Possible reasons of the discrepancies between the observations were discussed. Genetically extreme individuals can be identified by Structure, Assignment and FCA tests. These methods are found to be promising in establishing new relatively pure breeds or in saving the breeds from further genetic contamination. Genetically outlier individuals were shown not to exhibit any distinct morphological differences. Unknown band patterns were found by RFLP and SSCP of mtDNA Control Region and the individuals harboring those were sequenced. They were shown to belong to the common haplogroups A, B or C. No novel haplogroup was found.

v It was found that most of the classical scrapie genotypes belong to R3 risk group, whereas atypical scrapie genotypes belonging to zero (0) and one (1) risk groups were frequently seen in sheep analyzed. In other words, Turkish sheep is found to have intermediate risk of classical scrapie and low atypical scrapie risk, in general. The data from the current study may help to establish a breeding program for classical scrapie control in Turkey and will be beneficial for both the animal and public health in the country. In addition, the outcomes of the study will fill the gap which is present in the geographic distribution data of PrP gene polymorphisms in Eurasia.Scrapie is an infectious fatal disease of sheep and goats which affects the central nervous system. In the present study, samples of 14 native Turkish sheep breeds (n=655) were analyzed with respect to their polymorphisms of PrP gene (at codons: 136, 141, 154 and 171) and their classical and atypical scrapie risk levels were identified. Turkish sheep are found to have the highest PrP genetic variability with 13 classical scrapie alleles and 14 atypical scrapie alleles compared to all previous studies. Classical scrapie-susceptible and wild-type ARQ allele was found as the most frequent allele in Turkish sheep examined. The most classical scrapie-susceptible allele, VRQ was detected at low frequencies in 5 of the breeds (&Ccedil / ine &Ccedil / apari, Dagli&ccedil / , Kivircik, Karayaka and G&ouml / k&ccedil / eada). One novel allele (TL141HQ) was observed in Sakiz breed for the first time in this study.

In the present study, history of domestic sheep were investigated by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) based haplogroups (HPG) of 628 samples and mtDNA control region (CR) sequences of 240 samples from 13 Turkish sheep breeds which were located in the hearth of the first domestication center. Also, 30 Anatolian wild sheep (Ovis gmelinii anatolica) mtDNA CR sequences were obtained to contribute to the scenarios on initial domestication stages of sheep. Haplogroup compositions of breeds were identified with SSCP method by using mtDNA ND2 region. The genetic diversity and relationship between haplogroups were calculated. Phylogenetic analyses of haplogroups such as median joining networks and neighbor joining trees were constructed for mtDNA CR, cytochrome B (cytB) and combined CR-cytB sequences with sequences from the present study together with sequences retrieved from NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). Results of the present study showed that all previously observed haplogroups (HPG A-E) were present in Turkish sheep breeds. Two individuals from rare HPG D and eleven individuals from rare HPG E were detected and sequenced. With increased sample size, for HPG E, past population expansion was observed as was the case of HPG A, B and C with mismatch distributions and neutrality tests. Spatial autocorrelation analyses and synthetic map with respect to mtDNA (maternal) pattern revealed that Turkey was separated into two regions which may be attributed to the imprints of third migration of sheep associated with the arrivals of nomadic Turks to Anatolia nearly 1000 years before present. Finally, Ovis gmelinii anatolica samples exhibited two haplotypes / one of them belongs to HPG A (possibly feral domesticate), and the other one shows a distinct haplotype (close to HPG E and C) that was not observed before. Observed, low mtDNA diversity might be the result of isolation, fragmentation, extinction of fragments and bottlenecks. Ovis gmelinii anatolica can be part of the evolved descendants of the wild sheep which gave birth to the domestic sheep.

In the present study, haplogroup composition of five native Turkish sheep breeds, (Karayaka, Akkaraman, G&ouml / k&ccedil / eada, Dagli&ccedil / , Morkaraman) and two sheep breeds from neighboring countries (Herik from Iran, samples from Azerbaijan) were determined by single strand length polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) region and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of mtDNA control (CR) region. Results of the SSCP and RFLP approaches were found to be 96,82% consistent. Most of the 3,18% inconsistency was due to unidentified band patterns of 9 individuals. SSCP method could identify haplogroups A, B and C, but not D and E. Similarly RFLP method could identify haplogroup A, B and possibly D, but not E and C. Data of the present study were compared with those of the previous studies to test the robustness of results under different samplings and were found to be homogenous with a previous study with similar sampling strategy. Neighbor joining tree, principal component analysis (PCA), Delaunay network analysis and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) were employed to analyze the haplogroup frequencies and breeds were separated in four groups according to the genetic barriers between breeds from different geographical locations. Strongest differentiation was present between two groups which were eastern breeds (Morkaraman, Herik-Iran and Azerbaijan) and western breeds (G&ouml / k&ccedil / eada, Akkaraman, Karayaka and Dagli&ccedil / ). Additionally, Azerbaijan was proposed as the entrance point of the haplogroup A and the Iran was proposed as the entrance point of haplogroup C to Anatolia with the Spearman rank correlation test.

In the first part of the present study, samples of 13 native Turkish sheep breeds (n=628) were examined, individually and comparatively, with respect to their 19 microsatellite loci to characterize them by employing various statistical analyses. Low FST values, high mean number of alleles and allelic richness as well as results of Factorial Correspondence Analysis and Structure analyses showed the degree of admixture between native sheep breeds of Turkey, IVE and SAK were observed as the most distincts of the breeds and possible introgressions were detected in other breeds. The 2- BAD, a software to examine the admixtures, was employed to estimate the time of the admixtures and the MSVAR software was employed to detect past demographic histories. In the second part, evaluations based on their genetic characteristics were made in relation to their prioritization in conservation studies. By employing four different approaches, it has been concluded that IVE, SAK, KRY, KIV, HEM and breed from Central Anatolia should be included in a conservation program for the preservation of optimum genetic diversity. In the last part of the thesis breeds were also characterized with respect to their relative risk of extinctions and their merits, which were used to estimate the utilities of the breeds. Non-genetic factors, collected based on the existing literature and surveys throughthe questionnaires filled by the field specialists, were incorporated into genetic factors to estimate the utilities of the breeds under different scenarios. In this approach, it is concluded that NOR, AKK, SAK, IVE and HEM should be included in the conserved set of breeds. By the present study, it is believed that specific genetic features of the native Turkish sheep breeds were documented, effects of sampling on the population genetic studies was discussed, the need for a reliable data (genetic and nongenetic, for characterizing the risks and merits of the breeds) for the prioritization of the breeds in the long term sustainable conservation ofthem was emphasized.

The aim of the present study was to describe the genetic polymorphism of the -LG milk protein locus in the Lithuanian Blackface sheep breed obtained using isoelectric focusing (IEF) method and in the Lithuanian Native Coarse wool sheep – using PCR-RFLP method. The results of study as follows: in Lithuanian Blackface sheep two genetic variants A and B with allele frequency of A=0.52 and B=0.48 were identified. The most frequent genotype in Lithuanian Blackface breed, detected in 66.7 % of studied individuals, was heterozygous genotype AB. Homozygous genotypes AA and BB were observed at frequencies of 19.0 % and 14.3 %, respectively. In Lithuanian Native Coarse wool sheep two genetic variants A and B with allele frequency of A=0.69 and B=0.31 were identified. The BB genotype was not frequent (7.8 %) in Lithuanian Native Coarse wool breed. The genotypes AA and AB were observed at frequency of 46.1 %. Mean observed heterozygosity value (Hobs=0.511) in Lithuanian Blackface sheep was slightly lower than mean expected heterozygosity (Hexp=0.667). In Lithuanian Native Coarse wool sheep mean expected heterozygosity value (Hobs=0.461) was similar to the mean observed heterozygosity (Hexp=0.434). The deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was not detected in any of those breeds. Conclusions: the detected high frequency of genotype AB in meat-wool type Lithuanian Blackface and Lithuanian Native Coarse wool sheep might be in agreement with the observations made by Bocharev. Since the... [to full text]

Submitted by Rebeka Godeiro (rebeka_carvalho@hotmail.com) on 2018-05-09T12:11:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ÉVILA LAYSSA GONÇALVES ANDRADE - DISSERTAÇÃO ZOOTECNIA 2018.pdf: 781555 bytes, checksum: 737e0c348795cf611733127cadba1da6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-09T12:11:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ÉVILA LAYSSA GONÇALVES ANDRADE - DISSERTAÇÃO ZOOTECNIA 2018.pdf: 781555 bytes, checksum: 737e0c348795cf611733127cadba1da6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-26 / Capes / Objetivou-se avaliar a influência da gestação e do puerpério, alimentação e raça sobre o hemograma de ovelhas deslanadas. Utilizou-se 40 ovelhas, sendo 20 da raça Santa Inês e 20 da raça Morada Nova, distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado em arranjo de parcelas subdivididas no tempo. Durante o período experimental, os animais permaneceram em piquetes de pastagem Andropogon gayanus, sendo recolhidos ao final da tarde para receberem suplementação. As amostras de sangue foram colhidas a cada quatorze dias, sempre pela manhã, antes dos animais serem liberados para o pasto, por punção da veia jugular, para a realização do hemograma. Não se observou influência do nível de suplementação no eritrograma dos animais (P < 0,05). No leucograma, a suplementação influenciou apenas a contagem de neutrófilos (P < 0,05). A raça Morada Nova apresentou maiores concentrações de hemoglobina e de hematócrito e contagem total de leucócitos que a raça Santa Inês. Relativo à influência da gestação e do puerpério sobre o eritrograma, observou-se que nesse período ocorreu um reestabelecimento dos valores da crase sanguínea, incluindo proteínas plasmáticas totais, que elevaram durante este período como forma de compensação ao feto e a alta exigência nutricional, permanecendo até o final do puerpério quando os cordeiros foram desmamados. Os fatos anteriormente discutidos evidenciam que não houve influência do período de gestação e puerpério sobre o eritrograma dos animais em estudo, porém a suplementação e a raça se mostram influentes no quadro leucocitário desses animais. / The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of gestation and puerperium, feeding and breed on the hemogram of sheep. We used 40 sheep, 20 of Santa Ines and 20 Morada Nova, distributed in a completely randomized design in a split plot arrangement in time. During the experimental period, the animals were kept in pickets of Andropogon gayanus pasture being collected in the late afternoon to be supplemented. Blood samples were taken every fourteen days, always in the morning, before the animals were released into the pasture, by jugular vein puncture for blood count. There was no influence on the level of supplementation in the erythrogram (P <0.05). In leucogram, the concentrate supply influenced only neutrophiles (P <0.05). The Morada Nova breed had higher hemoglobin and hematocrite and total leukocyte count than the Santa Ines breed. On the influence of pregnancy and puerperium in the erythrocyte, it is observed that during this period there is a reestablishment of the values of blood crasis, including total plasma proteins that increase during this period as compensation to the fetus and high nutritional requirements, remaining until the end of the puerperium when the lambs were weaned. The facts discussed above show that there was no influence of the gestation and puerperium period on the erythrogram of the animals under study, however, supplementation and breed are influential in the leukocyte status of these animals.